Kaushaljis VS. Kaushal is placidly narrated family drama

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Slow and steady wins the race seems to be the motto behind Kaushaljis VS Kaushal, a family drama that speaks of matrimonial relevance and family values, and in the final analysis—unconditional acceptance.

While the message(s) are praiseworthy and probably increasingly relevant as the years roll by, I could not help thinking that this small and rather cute film could have been crisper and having a faster pace. There are moments that seem stretched self-indulgently, and needless bitter banter when much less was desired to capture the conflict.

And what is this conflict? Well, Sahil (Ashutosh Rana) and Sangeeta Kaushal (Sheeba Chaddha) are a couple married for 26 years, with two children who are now grown-up. The elder is Yug (Pavail Gulati), who works in an advertising firm in NOIDA (the Kaushals are based in Kannauj 400 kilometers away) and the younger one is Reet (Deeksha Joshi).

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Sahil works in a perfume-manufacturing company that is in the doldrums now, but he has always harbored a wish to become a qawwal. Sangeeta, completely into domesticity, makes “scents” (perfumes) at home as a hobby. They both thus have unfulfilled desires in their quests to raise a family.

Amidst his professional struggles, Yug gets a shade obsessed with the dysfunctional relationship of his parents that have surfaced out of their own reasons. Incensed when their squabbles affect him during a job-linked conversation, he gives them a piece of his mind.

Back in NOIDA, he falls for Kiara (Isha Talvar), an NRI whose parents are separated. She reciprocates, and tells him that she would love to marry into a harmonious family. To his horror, Yug finds that his parents have decided to pay heed to his “advice” and divorce each other. Yug has not told them to go their separate ways but has merely stated that his own generation just “moves on” where relationships cannot be sorted! And Sahil and Sangeeta tell him that they have decided to follow “his advice” and separate!

The basic premise of Kaushaljis VS. Kaushal is sensible but a thorn in its conceptual flesh is that Yug primarily wants his parents to get back and remain together so that Kiara does not move away from him! This basic ‘selfish’ flaw corrupts the message that couples, if they do not jell with each other, must understand their specific causes and treat them rather than separate, especially when they have gone through great times earlier, have not done anything they should not have, and been successful parents.

On the contrary, Kiara’s wholesome stand is that one must accept imperfections in any relationship, which is a selfless and mature approach for an achiever hailing from a broken home. Three more aspects seem skewed: Reet initially supports her parents’ decision to legally separate, and then does a volte-face without any (for her) convincing reason. And Sheela aunty (Grusha Kapoor), the neighboring lawyer who takes up Sangeeta’s (yes, matters do reach court!) case, casts ridiculous aspersions on Sahil just to get the divorce approved by the judge. The mix of professional and personal in Yug’s life also seems a shade overdone rather than organic.

The film could have easily cut off 20 minutes or more from its 2.11 runtime and ironed out these needless flaws. Director and writer Seemaa Desai, however, handles her cast well, and makes sure that the other key aspects (production design, costumes, cinematography and dialogues that she co-wrote with Siddharth Goel) are in sync with her vision. Some in-your-face aspects like Yug’s post-climax presentation could have been curtailed or replaced.

The film looks very much like the Basu Chatterjee films of yore where the youngsters and older generation were shown in essentially benign clashes. But—yet again (and any number of ‘again’s!) it could have had far better music. The qawwalis do not register, with the last one having decent lyrics but no flavor of the genre at all! Basu’s movies, irrespective of quality, almost always had good to great music. The BGM (Saurabh Bhalerao) is alright though.

Ashutosh Rana is good as Sahil but not very convincing as the frustrated husband on occasion, which is surprising given his range. The sequence where he asks his son to caress his forehead as he is missing someone’s fond gesture does score high, but his blank expression at the first court session and certain sequences with his wife and son see him coming out quite flat.

Sheeba Chaddha, that monument of talent, on the other hand, underplays Sangeeta and scores high again. The youngsters are alright, and among them, it is Isha Talvar who comes across best. She is utterly charming and natural as Kiara. Brijendra Kala and Grusha Kapoor have nothing much to do. Aashish Chowdhry, seen after a long time, is effective in his cameo. Yash Chaturvedi and Neha Panda as Yug’s colleagues are good in their brief roles.

As a home watch, the film is a pleasant watch and we get some welcome homilies. Seemaa Desai, who directed the brilliant short, Tindey, makes her big-screen debut and must now hone her script sense, because as a director, she has already shown her mettle the last time, and shows it again here. Here’s to expecting better next time.

Rating: ***

Jio Hotstar presents Jio Studios’, Merry Go Round Studios’ & Mumbai Talkeez’ Kaushaljis VS. Kaushal Produced by; Jyoti Deshpande, Parag Desai, Umesh Shukla & Ashish Wagh Directed by: Seemaa Desai  Written by: Seema Desai & Siddharth Goel  Music: Vikram Montrose & Ashish Chhabra  Starring: Ashutosh Rana, Sheeba Chaddha, Pavail Gulati, Isha Talvar, Deeksha Joshi, Brijendra Kala, Grusha Kapoor, Yash Chaturvedi, Neha Panda & Sp. App.: Aashish Chowdhry

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